Is Richard Simmons Missing?

Richard Simmons was one of the most well known fitness gurus in the world, but he hasn’t been seen in over 1,000 days. There is a podcast about his disappearance that is now at the top of the iTunes charts.

Dan Taberski met Simmons while attending an exercise classes in Los Angeles 5 years ago. The pair discussed producing a documentary about Simmons’ life — but one day, Simmons just didn’t show up to teach his exercise class and stopped answering phone calls.

The following week, Simmons still didn’t show up to class. When he failed to turn up the week after, people started to get worried. There were even reports in recent years saying Simmons had been kidnapped or held captive, but he called The Today Show to say that wasn’t true.

So why haven’t we seen Richard lately?

Taberski has set out to find the answer to that question in his new podcast, “Missing Richard Simmons.” The first episode premiered just 2 weeks ago, and has already hit number 1 on iTunes. On the podcast Taberski speaks to friends and the people who were closest to Richard Simmons and tries to figure out what has happened to the star. Only three episodes have been released so far, and from those emerge three possible theories:

He had knee surgery and is taking time to recover.

His 17-year-old dog died and he is mourning that loss.

His live-in housekeeper of 27 years, Teresa Reveles, is controlling his life and holding him hostage.

Simmons’ manager Tom Estey has denied those allegations, telling People last year his client is safe and simply out of the public eye.

“Richard, after 40 years of being in the spotlight, is now simply taking a break from the public eye and working behind the scenes to continue to help those millions of people worldwide in need of his assistance and on several projects to be announced soon.”

Do you have leads, theories, or Richard stories? Taberski wants to hear them. You can call Dan at (402) 937-9328.